RaiderCards get an upgrade and will be available for pickup Dec. 17

The new RaiderCard design features a larger photo, is easier to read and allows for more characters to include longer names. Courtesy photo.

New RaiderCards being issued to Grand Rapids Community College students and employees beginning Dec. 17 offer new features.

The cards will be available for pickup from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 17 through Dec. 21 at the Raider Grille and from Jan. 2 through Jan. 5, 2019. Aside from using the cards in the parking structures, point-of-sale registers on campus and cash-to-card and vending machines, the cards will grant access to certain campus entry doors. The new RaiderCards will also feature a new design including a larger photo and more space for longer names.

“The primary motivation is to reduce the number of doors unlocked and the length of time the doors are in an unlocked state when the buildings are sparsely occupied,” Whitman stated in an email to The Collegiate. “The new system also will allow us to put a specific building, section of campus or whole campus in a lockdown state in a safe and efficient manner.”

Whitman also emphasized that the new system is one more security feature GRCC has for student safety.

“We are continuing to create a culture of safety at GRCC and this is just one more tool in the tool box,” she stated.

Whitman also said most of the buildings have already been using the new system and expects doors that have not gone live yet will be on line by the start of the Winter 2019 semester.

Lakeshore Campus students already signed up for Winter 2019 classes will be notified when the new cards will be available for pickup. Building access hours on GRCC’s downtown campus will be posted in the online student center.